The question is not whether another people power would weaken the institutions of democracy. The question is whether we see and hear the evil happening all around us; and whether we would let it persist in our midst.

BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
ANALYSIS
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 5, March 2-8, 2008

We have not only a crisis of the truth but a grave political crisis.

The country is deeply divided. Almost everyday, ever since Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada testified at the Senate February 6, different groups from civil society, churches of different denominations, religious organizations, media, business, political parties, people’s organizations and veterans of EDSA 1 and 2, from all political colors have been calling on Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign. Masses for truth and interfaith rallies have been attracting large numbers of people expressing their outrage against the evils of corruption and bribery, which is rearing its ugly head once again, as well as against the impunity in the commission of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, harassments and killings of journalists, and the persistent attacks on civil liberties. The most recent rally February 29, which was attended by around 80,000 people from all walks of life, shows that the crisis is not about to go away, as the Arroyo government wishes it to, but is intensifying and may lead to another People Power uprising.

Almost all democratic institutions and processes have been abused to perpetuate those in power.

National and local elections in 2004 have been so tainted with fraud that the issues of legitimacy and the “Hello Garci” tapes – which recorded Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo talking with a Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner believed to be Virgilio Garcillano to ensure that Arroyo wins by 1 million votes over the late actor and presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr.- refuse to go away. Elections as a democratic process have further been abused during the May 2007 senatorial elections. The very same Comelec machinery in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, which was staffed and used by Garcillano during the 2004 elections, was implicated in another issue of electoral fraud, now starring Comelec Director Lintang Bedol, in an effort to push more administration candidates to the winning circle in the senatorial elections and to enable virtually unknown party-list groups sponsored by Malacañang to get seats in the House of Representatives. The integrity, or rather lack of it, of elections under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has become comparable to the 1981 presidential elections, the 1985 snap elections, and the Batasang Pambansa (National Legislature) elections during the Marcos dictatorship.

The House of Representatives has been made into a virtual stamping pad of the Arroyo government, not unlike the Batansang Pambansa of Marcos, especially with the change in the position of House speaker. Current House Speaker Prospero Nograles, an Arroyo loyalist, replaced Jose de Venecia Jr., a former Arroyo ally who fell from the graces of Malacañang after his son and namesake Joey exposed the corruption and overpricing of the National Broadband Network contract with ZTE and pointed to the participation of Jose Miguel Arroyo, the president’s husband, in the shady deal. Worse, Nograles owes his ascendancy to the House leadership from the sons of Arroyo, Mikey and Dato, who led the conspiracy of representatives to oust De Venecia; thereby making the Arroyo brothers the most powerful tandem in the Lower House. A stamping pad Lower House virtually closed the doors of the impeachment process as a venue to hold Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accountable for her sins against democracy, the constitution, and the people.

The Department of Justice, under (in)Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, has been reduced to being a tool of the Arroyo government for running against its critics and shielding it from any criminal or civil liability. It has shown how it can bend court procedures, and produce perjurious witnesses and fabricated evidences to file trumped-up charges against the government’s critics especially against representatives of progressive party-list groups and personalities of people’s organizations. What happened to Bayan Muna (People First) Representatives Satur Ocampo, Teddy Casino, and Joel Virador, Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Reps. Crispin Beltran – who languished in jail for more than a year on charges that the Supreme Court later adjudged as lacking in basis and politically motivated – and Rafael Mariano, and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Liza Maza are perfect examples of how this government tramples on the rule of law and the right to due process. It has also used the Justice Department to harass journalists who expose the truth and interview anti-Arroyo forces.

Local officials have been bribed with cash, budgets for local projects, and revenue allocations in order to serve as a counterbalance to the growing opposition of the Filipino people to the Arroyo government’s rule. The brazenness of the bribery being done by Malacañang on local government officials and the scandalous amounts involved is unparalleled in history.

State security forces have been so politicized that it already approximates the role and power it enjoyed during Martial Law.

The role and actions of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) under the Arroyo government reminds us of its infamy during Martial Law. It is being used once again to harass voters and participate in electoral fraud, and worse, kill and abduct activists, and commit various human rights violations to keep the Arroyo government in power. The Philippine National Police (PNP), on the other hand, is being used to cover up the acts of the AFP and to attack protest actions, rallies, and picketlines.

The few remaining institutions of democracy that have not yet been debased and corrupted by the Arroyo government are the opposition-dominated Senate and the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Reynato Puno. However, the oversight functions of the Senate are being rendered useless not only with Executive Order 464 but with the defiant acts of the executive. Lozada was kidnapped allegedly by elements from the Presidential Security Group and the PNP immediately after disembarking from his plane, even as they were well aware that the sheriff of Senate was about to arrest him at the airport.

Despite the proactive stance of Chief Justice Puno, the Supreme Court is, by nature, a reactive institution. It can only act if and when a petition is filed before it. Its power to promote and defend democracy, and to check and balance the powers of the executive is limited by the ability of concerned parties to seek its judgment, opinion, and intervention. And its decisions are being interpreted or rather misinterpreted to suit the needs of the government. Up to now the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has been invoking Executive Order No. 464 to keep government officials from testifying in Senate hearings even as the right of the public to information has been upheld by the Supreme Court.

The truth is staring us in the face. The very acts of the Arroyo government in trying to silence witnesses and stonewall the investigations of the Senate show that it is not interested in arriving at the truth. And who could not hear how the Arroyo Cabinet stumble from one lie to another, issuing contradicting statements, and admitting to some degree of truth when stumped with facts and the requisites of logic in its futile attempt to shield the truth.

One only has to look to be able to see the cheating, bribery, corruption, extrajudicial killings and abductions happening all around us. One only has to listen to be able to hear the lies coming out of the Arroyo government and the cries for justice and of hunger of the populace. One only has to discern to be able to separate the problem from the solution, the truth from the lies, and the right from the wrong. One only has to feel for and with the people to be able to understand and appreciate that they are not the threat to democracy. It is those who hang on to power through lies, cheating, bribery and force who weaken and make a mockery of democracy.

The question is not whether another people power would weaken the institutions of democracy. The question is whether we see and hear the evil happening all around us; and whether we would let it persist in our midst. (Bulatlat.com)